Apparatus for forming and filling bags

ABSTRACT

1,059,909. Plastics bags. DOHMEIER &amp; STROTHOTTE KOMM GES. Oct. 4, 1965 [Oct. 30, 1964], No. 34528/66. Divided out of 1,059,908. Heading B8K. The subject-matter is identical with that described with reference to Fig. 2 of Specification 1,059,908, the claims relating to a band of bags as shown in that Figure.

Feb. 3, 1970 A. DOHMEIER APPARATUS FOR FORMING AND FILLING BAGS Original Filed Oct. 4, 1965 v I N VEN TOR. ARA/0L0 DQHME/ER (.5 70:; A TTORN'YS.

United States Patent 3,492,783 APPARATUS FOR FORMING AND FILLING BAGS Arnold Dohmeier, Dorfbauer 160a, Linen, Kreis Teckienburg, Germany Continuation of application Ser. No. 492,404, Oct. 4, 1965. This application Sept. 6, 1968, Ser. No. 760,742 Claims priority, application Germany, Oct. 30, 1964, D 45,751 Int. Cl. B65d 31/00 US. Cl. 53-186 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE Apparatus for forming and filling bags is comprised of a plurality of means for folding a strip of heat sealable material along a longitudinal fold line to provide opposed side walls, for sealing and forming perforations providing a line of weakness in the side walls at spaced locations to form interconnected bag elements with open tops, for opening the tops of the bags and filling them with the material, for heat sealing the open tops, and for removing the bags by a fast feed-off for selectively separating the bags at their perforations.

This application is a continuation of Ser. No. 492,404, now abandoned.

This invention relates, in general, to an apparatus for forming and filling bags and, in particular, to a new and useful apparatus for forming a bag by folding it along a longitudinal fold line and sealing at spaced vertical intervals to form individual bag elements which are separated at the sealed areas after filling.

Prior to the present invention, it has been known to form a web into an endless tube which is filled and heatsealed or welded at locations before and after a filling device. Such a method and device are satisfactory as long as the product to be packed is clean and will not contaminate the cleaning device and the welding device. If, for example, a product such as potatoes or other agricultural products are to be packed in bags or containers, difiiculties are encountered because the machinery becomes fouled with the surrounding coverings and associated debris associated with such vegetables.

In accordance with the present invention, there is provided an apparatus for forming and filling bags which permits the filling of the containers at a location which is separate from the sealing and forming of the containers. In accordance with the invention, a web of bag-forming material is directed first to means for folding it along a longitudinal line in order to form bag sidewalls. Thereafter the folded web thus formed is heat-sealed at spaced vertical intervals along an area which extends from the bottom to a location spaced from the top thereof. This forms a plurality of interconnected bag elements with loose top flaps which may be separated for presenting the fill openings of the bag elements below a filling spout at which they are filled with material to be shipped in the bags. Thereafter the tops or fill openings of the bags are sealed such as by welding or heat sealing and the individual bag elements are separated along a line of weakness located in the portion connecting adjacent bag elements as desiredfby pulling the bags to be separated off on a fast feed line to separate them. The apparatus for effecting the operation is such that the forming and sealing of the bags may be accomplished separately from the filling and without contamination thereby.

3,492,783 Patented Feb. 3, 1970 In a preferred arrangement, the apparatus for carrying out the operation comprises a means for feeding a length of web material to form the bag from a roll thereof and for forming a longitudinal fold line to permit folding upwardly of the sides of the web material to form the bag side walls. The material fed is advantageously heat sealable and is heat-sealed along spaced vertical lines to form the individual bag elements with the top left free to form fill openings to permit opening for filling purposes. Means for spreading apart the fill openings such as rollers or a spreading device, are arranged in the path of feed of the connected bag elements to spread open the top edges to permit the top edges to be oriented beneath a filling spout at which the bag elements are filled with the material to be packaged therein and the bottoms are supported on a movable container or conveyor. Thereafter the bags are passed through means for sealing the top edges at the fill openings and for pulling off one or more bags from the group of bags being fed. The pull-01f device may be arranged for disconnecting, for example, two or more bags from the series of interconnected bag elements. The apparatus advantageously includes a con veyor upon which the bag elements are fed in an upright manner and which may be adjusted in height in accordance with the size of the bag element which is being handled by the machine.

Accordingly, it is an object of the invention to provide an improved apparatus for filling bags wherein the bag elements are formed by folding a heat scalable material along a longitudinal fold line and heat-sealing the folded material at spaced vertical intervals to form individual bag elements and wherein the top edges of the bag elements form fill openings which are left unsealed and passed through means for spreading apart the edges to facilitate filling, and after filling the bags are heat-sealed along the top edges and the bag elements are then separated.

A further object of the invention is to provide an apparatus for forming bag elements and for filling the same which includes means for folding a web of bag-formula material along a longitudinal fold line to form side edges of the bag, means for heat-sealing and perforating or forming a line of weakness in the folded web along spaced vertical areas for forming the individual bag elements which may be separated from each other adjacent the tops, with means for spreading apart the top edges to facilitate filling and with further means for thereafter sealing the top edges.

A further object of the invention is to provide an apparatus for filling bag elements of a type connected together, and for separating the same with maximum efficiency, and despite considerable bulging and distortion of the filled bags, and therefore frequently lack of straight lines of demarcation between the filled bags as would be required, for example, to assist cutting them apart.

For an understanding of the principles of the invention, reference is made to the following description of a typical embodiment thereof as illustrated in the accompanying drawings.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a somewhat schematic side elevational view of a bag-forming, filling and sealing device constructed in accordance with the invention; and

FIG. 2 is a top plan view of the apparatus indicated in FIG. 1.

Referring to the drawings in particular, the invention embodied therein comprises means such as feed rollers and 12 for feeding a continuous strip of web material 14 from a roll supply thereof 16 and means 20 which in the embodiment illustrated is a folding roller for folding the wrap continuously along the longitudinal fold line to form side walls 22 and 24 for a bag. Sealing and perf0rating means 26 are provided for perforating or forming a line of weakness in the web 14 along spaced vertical perforation lines 30 which extend from the bottom or longitudinal fold line 32 to the top 34 and also for heatsealing over a vertical band or area 36 which extends from the bottom 32 to a spaced location from the top 34.

The heat-sealing along the bands 36 divides the continuous strip into a plurality of separate bag elements 40 connected together in side-by-side fashion which may be subsequently separated by parting along the lines of weakness or perforation lines 30.

The formed bag elements 40 are fed by means of rollers 39 which are advantageously operated by control means 41 which includes means 43 for braking the speed of the rollers 39, if desired.

The area of the bags above the heat-seal area 36 is directed past the flap separating means 42 or means for spreading apart the fill opening which in the embodiment illustrated is a separating knife element or plow and may comprise separating rollers or similar arrangements. The separating means 42 causes the separation of the top portion of the bags at a location directly below a filling spout 44 of a feed hopper 46. The feed hopper 46 is provided for the feeding in of the material or product to be shipped in the bag elements 40.

Directly below the location of the spout 44 there is arranged an endless belt conveyor 48 for controllably feeding the bag elements to the filling means which is supported on pedestals 50 and 52 in a manner permitting its vertical adjustment in order to accommodate various sizes of bags. The bag elements 40, after they have been filled, are advanced on the conveyor 48 into association with means 54 for heat-sealing the top portions of the bag.

After the top portions of the bags have been sealed closed, the bags are fed past the pull-out device generally designated 56. The pull-out device 56 comprises a pair of roller elements 58 and 60 over which are trained horizontally oriented conveyor belts 64. The conveyor belts 64 are of a size selected for accommodating a particular number of bags which are to be separated. For example, the separating device 56 may be employed for separating two bag elements 40 from the remaining elements at a time by operating the separation device 56 at a faster speed than the belt conveyor 48 to cause a fast feed-off of the bag elements. Of course, it may also be set to separate one or more than two bag elements at a time, if so desired. The application of the perforations 30, of course, facilitates the separation of the bags along the desired vertical separation line.

While a specific embodiment of the invention has been shown and described in detail to illustrate the application of the principles of the invention, it will be understood that the invention may be embodied otherwise without departing from such principles.

What is claimed is:

1. Apparatus for forming and filling bags comprising means for folding a continuous length of heat scalable web material along a longitudinal fold line to form oppositely disposed side walls extending upwardly from the fold line, means for heat sealing and perforating the oppositely disposed side walls at spaced vertically extending locations to form a series of separate interconnected bag elements open at their tops, the heat sealed portions of said bag elements extending from the fold line to a point spaced below the open tops thereof, means for opening the tops of said bag elements, means for filling each bag element disposed above the open tops of the bag elem nta means disposed adjacent said filling means for sgaling the open tops of said bag elements after th y h ve been fille and means fo c n y g s id interconnected bag elements away from said top sealing means comprising a conveyor for supporting the bag elements adjacent the location of the longitudinal fold line, and fast feed-off conveyor means laterally contacting said bag elements for feeding off the bag elements at a speed greater than the conveyor speed for selectively separating the bag elements at the perforations formed therein.

2. Apparatus for filling and sealing bags wherein each bag normally includes a bottom end and two sides, and a fill opening disposed adjacent the top end of each bag, and wherein said bags are connected together in generally side-by-side fashion with a line of weakness located in the portion connecting together adjacent ones of said bag elements, thereby forming a chain of connected bag elements with separation of the bag elements from each other facilitated by said line of weakness, said apparatus comprising means for spreading apart the fill opening of said bag elements to a product receiving position, means for depositing a product in each bag element through the respective spread apart fill opening thereof, means for closing the fill opening of each of said filled bag elements, and means for pulling apart and separating said filled bag elements from each other along said lines of weakness.

3. Apparatus, as set forth in claim 2, wherein said means for pulling apart and separating said filled bag elements comprises a device for selectively gripping said bags and pulling said gripped bags apart from said chain of connected bag elements whereby said gripped bags are selectively separated from said chain along one of said lines of weakness.

4. Apparatus, as set forth in claim 2, wherein said means for pulling apart and separating said bag elements comprises a device including a pair of oppositely facing conveyor belts, said conveyor belts being arranged to receive and grip between them said bags for selectively pulling said bags apart from each other along said lines of 'weakness.

5. Apparatus, as set forth in claim 4, including means for controllably intermittently feeding said bag elements to said filling means, said conveyor belts being operated on a continuous basis whereby during the stop interval accompanying filling operations said continuously operated belts selectively separate said gripped bags from said chain of connected bag elements.

6. Apparatus, as set forth in claim 4, including means for controllably feeding said bag elements to said filling means, said conveyor belts being driven so as to cause a fast-feed off of said bags gripped therebetween whereby said gripped bags are selectively separated from said chain of connected bag elements.

7. Apparatus, as set forth in claim 6, wherein said feeding means comprises a conveyor positioned below said depositing means and which supports the bottom ends of said bag elements, said conveyor being arranged to convey said bag elements at a slower rate of speed than the speed imparted to said bag elements by said conveyor belts.

8. Apparatus, as set forth in claim 6, wherein said feeding means comprises a conveyor positioned below said depositing means and said closing means, said conveyor supporting the bottom ends of said bag elements and being arranged to convey said bag elements at a slower speed than the speed imparted to said bag elements by said conveyor belts.

9. Apparatus, as set forth in claim 4, including means for controllably intermittently feeding said bag elements to said filling and closing means, said conveyor belts being operated on a continuous basis whereby during the stop interval accompanying filling operations said continuously operated belts selectively separate said gripped bags from said chain of connected bag elements.

10. Apparatus, as set forth in claim 4, including means for controllably feeding said bag elements to said filling and sealing means, said conveyor belts being driven so as to cause a fast-feed off of said gripped bags whereby said gripped bags are selectively separated from said chain of connected bag elements.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,195,740 4/1940 Salfisberg 53-28 2,272,251 2/1942 Robinson 5328 X 3,182,430 5/1965 Hoeppner 53-29 3,357,151 12/1967 Monaghan 53-180 X THERON E. CONDON, Primary Examiner E. F. DESMOND, Assistant Examiner 

